Afterlife
by Go-Go Spiders
Summary: A ghostly Federico Auditore finds his brother Ezio after the hangings. [ACII]
1. part one

**Afterlife**

 _part one_

by Go-Go Spiders

Rating : PG-13

Warnings: Canon character deaths, violence

* * *

Federico flexed his hands bound behind his back, attempting to work them free from the ropes even as he knew it was useless. He'd been taught how to escape from ropes, but these were tied too tightly – the guards had been careful to make sure there was no chance that one of the Auditores could escape from the gallows.

As soon as Federico had seen the three nooses hanging from the gallows, he knew they had been betrayed by Uberto. This trial was all for show, a mere formality before he and his father Giovanni and youngest brother Petruccio were killed - a grand spectacle for the throngs of people gathered in the square crying out for blood.

"Giovanni Auditore, you and your accomplices stand accused of the crime of treason. Have you any evidence to counter this charge?" shouted Uberto, standing only a few feet away from him. So tantalizing close, if he only had a weapon, if only he could free himself...

Giovanni snarled, "Yes, the documents that were delivered to you last night!"

"I'm afraid I know nothing of these documents," Uberto said, projecting his voice over the noise of the crowd.

Far away, Federico heard a lone voice – it sounded like Ezio's but he couldn't be sure – cry out 'He's lying!', but it was swallowed up by the roar of the crowd assembled before the gallows. Federico's stomach lurched – if Ezio was here, if he was caught by the guards, he would join them on the gallows. Federico desperately didn't want his younger brother to die with them. He had failed to keep Petruccio and his father safe, he couldn't fail Ezio too. The night he'd spent sharing a cell with Petruccio, keeping watch over his youngest brother, he'd been thankful that at least not all of the Auditore family had been captured.

 _'Go, baby brother, while you still can. It's too late for us.'_

"In the absence of any compelling evidence to the contrary, I am bound to pronounce you – guilty," proclaimed Uberto. "You and your collaborators are hereby sentenced to death."

Even though he'd been expecting it, an ice-cold chill still ran down Federico's spine.

On the other side of Giovanni, Petruccio hung his head, a sob escaping from him as his small body shook.

Federico glared at Uberto, hands still straining against the ropes. He wouldn't give Uberto and the man in black next to him the satisfaction of watching him break, or seeing how much the sobs of his youngest brother made Federico want to slip free from the ropes and strangle Uberto with his bare hands.

"You are a traitor, Uberto – and one of them!" Giovanni roared, his eyes blazing with fury. "You may take our lives this day, but we will have yours in return! I swear! We wil-"

Unmoved by Giovanni's threats, Uberto gestured to the guard behind them, who would throw the lever that would drop the scaffold the three of them were standing on. They would fall, and the nooses around their necks would tighten, either breaking their necks instantly or slowly choking them to death.

Federico heard the loud 'bang' of the wooden platform dropping as he felt his body plummet down, nothing beneath his feet but darkness.

The snap of his neck as the rope pulled taut was a very small mercy.

* * *

Federico knew he was dead.

Which was truly strange, because if he was dead, surely he wouldn't be able to think of anything? Unless by some quirk of fortune he'd managed to reach Paradise, in which case, Paradise smelled distressingly like the filth dumped into the river Arno.

Federico opened his eyes cautiously, not knowing what'd he'd see. Instead of the square where he'd died, he was standing on a rickety dock perched on the edge of the river at night, next to a hooded man in light grey-and-red robes. The man was utterly still, solemnly watching a small wooden boat engulfed in flames slowly glide across the calm waters.

The man was wearing his father's Assassin robes, Federico realized with a jolt, as the man yanked the hood down, revealing his face.

It was Ezio. He had managed to escape from the hanging alive and unscathed. Federico let out a sigh of relief.

Ezio tilted his head back to the night sky with a quiet breath, scrunching his eyes shut. Federico watched several tears run down his brother's cheeks as Ezio lowered his head again.

"Brother," said Federico, placing a hand on Ezio's shoulder. He could see through his own hand – faint and indistinct, only half there - to the robes underneath, and understood what had happened. With his body dead and gone, now he was only a spirit. But his hand rested solidly against Ezio's trembling shoulder instead of passing through him like vapor, and Federico could faintly feel the texture of the fabric underneath his fingers.

Ezio started slightly when Federico touched him, turning his head to where Federico's hand was, a look of confusion on his face.

Could Ezio feel him?

Federico gave him a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "I'm here, Ezio. You might not be able to see me, but I'm here."

Ezio's eyes suddenly flared gold, glowing slightly in the dark. He slowly looked up and to Federico's astonishment, met Federico's gaze. A thunderstruck look passed over Ezio's face that made him appear impossibly young, his eyes widening in stunned recognition.

 _Ezio could see him._

In an instant, Ezio grabbed Federico like a drowning man laboring to keep his head above water and wrapped his arms tightly around his older brother's ghost as if he was afraid Federico would vanish at any moment. With a gut-wrenching sound that was halfway between a laugh and a choked sob, Ezio's stoic facade crumbled. He pressed his face against Federico's translucent shoulder and finally allowed himself the tears he'd been struggling to hold back.

Ezio's tears felt hot where they fell against Federico's doublet. Federico pressed his cheek against the top of Ezio's head, encircling his arms protectively around his younger brother.

It was a small comfort in spite of everything that'd happened, but it was all he could do now.

When Ezio pulled away from him, the golden glow in his eyes, the mark of his second sight, was gone. "Federico, I-I don't understand. What's happened to you?"

Federico looked down at his own ethereal form. That was a very good question. He was still wearing the dark-red doublet he'd died in, although when he touched his neck he only felt smooth skin, not the ligature marks the noose would've left on his body. "I'm not sure I understand it myself, Ezio." Federico glanced back at the burning boat on the river – a makeshift funeral pyre for him, Giovanni and Petruccio, meant to carry them on to their final destination. There was no sign of his father or youngest brother's ghosts around, and he knew, unsure exactly how, that they had both left this world entirely. Even his father, snarling at Uberto with his last breath, had passed on to whatever awaited him next.

But Federico had somehow stayed behind. He felt no pull guiding him away from Firenze, saw no heavenly light (or fires of Hell), heard no angelic choir welcome him (or the cries of the damned), nothing.

"Perhaps neither Paradise or the Inferno wanted to deal with me," said Federico. Turning back to Ezio, he gave him a dry grin. "Ah, well. Their loss."

He was glad to hear a chuckle come from his brother. "You always did have to be the stubborn one," said Ezio with a small smile, wiping at his bloodshot eyes with the back of his hand.

Federco smirked. "Stubborn? Me? Obviously you haven't looked in a mirror recently, brother."

Ezio's grin widened, becoming a little less melancholy. He looked slightly more at ease than he had a few short minutes ago.

And it was then that Federico realized why he hadn't moved on. Ezio still needed him, and Federico still wanted to protect his brother. And as long as his younger brother needed him, no force in Heaven or Hell could drag him away.

Federico placed both his hands on Ezio's shoulders. "I will stay with you, Ezio. For as long as I'm able to. We will avenge the deaths of the Auditores."

Ezio nodded. "And we'll do it together."

* * *

 _This was intended just to be a stand-alone, but I wrote more for it. c:_


	2. part two

**Afterlife**

 _part two_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

The night-time sky was beginning to lighten when Ezio left the docks and scrambled up the side of the nearest building to the roof without being seen. After a moment's hesitation, Federico began to follow him up.

Climbing was strange as a ghost. He could still feel the surface of the building; the bumps of the stucco wall, the smoothness of the clay shingles on the roof, but the sensation was muted. Somehow the building felt less solid to him than Ezio had, as if the only reason he didn't pass through the wall was because he still expected not to be able to. Something to explore later, when he had more time.

"Where are Mother and Claudia?" asked Federico once they had reached the peak of the roof. "Are they all right?" They had still been alive and uninjured when he'd been dragged out of the Palazzo Auditore last night, but then again, he'd also still been alive last night as well. Anything could've happened to them since then.

"They're with Annetta," Ezio said. "As far as I could tell they weren't hurt. Claudia was only a little shaken, but Mother..." He trailed off and looked down at his boots. "Mother didn't speak at all. It was like part of her wasn't there. Annetta said she'd take them to her sister's, but I don't know where she lives."

"And you didn't decide on a safe place to meet up with Annetta later so she could bring you there?" said Federico.

"It...didn't occur to me," said Ezio sheepishly. "After Annetta told me what'd happened, I wanted to go find Father at the prison and they'd already left when I returned to the Palazzo later."

"Then Annetta'll be looking for you," said Federico. "Probably near the Palazzo Auditore. That's where we should go."

From their view high above the ground, the brothers tracked the movements of the patrolling city guards, trying to pick out a safe route back to the Palazzo. Compared to their rooftop race a few nights earlier, when there had only been a few guards on patrol throughout the entire city, now large groups of guards were practically crawling all over the city's streets.

Ezio let out a low groan as a trio of heavily-armed guards walked past the street below them. "The Palazzo was under watch the last time I was there," he told Federico. "It'll probably be under even heavier watch now. There are so many more guards out tonight."

"What did you expect? They're still looking for you, Ezio. Right now you're the most wanted man in all of Firenze."

"They even have guards posted on the rooftops now," Ezio muttered darkly, glaring at an archer positioned on a roof several buildings away - too far for him to notice Ezio, although he risked being spotted if he moved much closer. "How am I supposed to get past them without being seen?"

Federico eyed the throwing knives on Ezio's belt, opened his mouth, but then quickly closed it again. While Ezio had all of their father's weapons, he didn't know the proper technique for using the throwing knives. Even Federico hadn't worked his way up to bladed weapons yet, and Giovanni had actually started to teach him how to be an Assassin.

Federico found himself wishing their father had decided to train him and Ezio as Assassins together, instead of waiting for Ezio to mature a little more before bringing him into the Brotherhood. It would certainly make things easier for Ezio now. Trying to be an Assassin without any training was like being shoved into the river and trying to figure out how to swim before you sank to the bottom. Sometime soon they'd need to find someone to teach Ezio the basic skills of an Assassin, as well as someone who could repair Giovanni's broken hidden blade.

"You could throw a rock," Federico suggested instead.

Ezio scoffed. "My aim may be good, but even I can't hit the head of someone so far away," he said.

Federico rolled his eyes. "Not to hit them, to distract them," he said. "If they're trying to figure out what caused a suspicious noise, chances are they won't be paying attention to the rest of their surroundings. If you were quiet enough, you could walk right behind them and they wouldn't notice."

Ezio stared at him dubiously. "Are you serious?"

"Don't give me that look, little brother. At least give it a try," said Federico.

Still grumbling, Ezio looked around the roof for a stone that'd fallen from a wall, a broken shingle, something hard. He picked up a rock about the size of a lemon, rolling it across his palm for a moment to get a sense of its weight. When the archer was looking away from where they were hiding, Ezio brought his arm back and threw the rock towards the roof the archer was standing on.

The rock hit a chimney on the opposite side of the roof, loudly clattering down the tile. The archer's head swiveled towards the sound. He silently raised his bow and began to slowly creep towards the chimney, leaving a clear path to the next row of empty rooftops.

"Go! Now's your chance!" hissed Federico.

Ezio quietly ran down the roof and leapt onto the next building before running across the rope connecting it to the building the archer was on. As Federico watched, Ezio silently ran up the peaked roof, passing less than fifteen feet behind the archer's back before jumping off the edge to the next building, unseen.

"Nicely done, Ezio!"

Together they slowly made their way back to the Palazzo by the rooftops of Firenze as the sun began to rise, until the cluster of archers ringing the rooftops around the Palazzo Auditore forced them to drop back down to the street.

"It's better this way. Chances are Annetta won't be looking for you up on the rooftops," said Federico as Ezio climbed down the side of one building and into a small dark alley between buildings. He raised his hood over his head and stepped out into the street just as a patrol of city guards rounded the corner less than ten feet away from him. Ezio smoothly turned on his heel and walked back into the alley before they could spot him.

"I don't like this," Ezio told his brother quietly, watching the patrol walk past his hiding place. When they were gone, he cautiously peered out into the street, checking for more guards with his second sight. "I feel exposed."

"Ser Ezio?" came a woman's quiet voice behind him.

Federico turned around to see Annetta carefully slip into the alleyway with them. She brightened when she saw Ezio's face, her eyes passing over where Federico was standing without noticing him. "Ser Ezio, thank God! I thought that was you! I've been looking everywhere." She let out a sigh. "I'm so sorry, I heard what happened to your father and brothers. Horrible."

To Federico, it was obvious she'd been worried. With the news of their executions spreading through the city and the entire city guard out in the streets looking for Ezio, she'd been fearing the worst when she hadn't been able to find him.

Ezio saw her kind, sympathetic face and visibly wilted. "I-I couldn't stop them, Annetta. I tried, I swear! But there were so many guards..."

She looked at him, radiating understanding. "Please, come with me. We need to get you off the streets."

"Ask her about Mother and Claudia," Federico said.

Annetta smiled slightly when Ezio repeated Federico's question to her. "They're safe. I'll bring you to them." Annetta took his hand in hers and pulled him back towards the street.

Ezio shook his head, pulling away from Annetta. "No, it's too dangerous for us to travel together. Tell me where to go and we'll-"

Federico prodded Ezio's side with his translucent elbow.

"- _I'll_ meet you there," Ezio finished.

Annetta glanced at him oddly for a moment before she responded. "My sister's house, just north of the Duomo."

"I'm on my way."

* * *

 _So, not a oneshot anymore. We'll see where it goes._


	3. part three

**Afterlife**

 _part three_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

Annetta's sister's house was a brothel.

Ezio and Federico gazed around the entrance hall of the building Annetta had brought them to, and at the skimpily-dressed courtesans lightly stepping down the stairs to greet any potential new clients. A man sitting on a lounge nearby, half-hidden behind a red velvet curtain, had a lovely young courtesan with her long blonde hair pulled up into two pointed knots straddling his lap. The man's hand slid up and down the smooth pale skin of her thigh before moving underneath the folds of her thin skirt.

"Brother, I believe I know the reason why Annetta never told us much about her older sister," said Federico.

Ezio's face turned tomato-red as he turned back towards the door. "Annetta, I think we have the wrong place..."

Annetta smiled coyly at him, Federico automatically moving out of her way as she moved to stand beside Ezio. "No, no. This is it - La Rosa Colta, my sister's house."

Ezio looked at her.

"Ser Ezio, a house of pleasure is still, in fact, a house," Annetta lightly chuckled.

Ezio met Federico's eyes, confused. Federico could read the expression on his face as easily as if he'd spoken the words he was thinking out loud: _'This is where Annetta brought Mother and Claudia?'_

Federico laughed. "Annetta's very clever. Not many people would think to look for them in a place like this," he said as a beautiful courtesan walked past Ezio with a teasing smile, suggestively swaying her hips.

A dark-haired woman, older than the courtesans but no less attractive, gracefully moved from a small side parlor into the entrance hall of the brothel, pausing beside a wooden latticework screen for a moment, her face catching the early morning sunlight from a nearby window.

Federico tilted his head slightly, looking closely at her face. Was it his imagination or had her eyes flashed gold?

The woman greeted her younger sister with a kiss to both cheeks, and then turned towards Ezio, her eyes raking up and down his body appraisingly. She didn't so much as glance in Federico's direction. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Messer Ezio. Annetta speaks quite highly of you." An appreciative smile played at the corners of her lips. "I can see why."

Federico snickered. "Oh, I think she likes you, little brother."

Ezio ducked his head to hide his smile, the tips of his ears turning red. "I appreciate the kind words, Madonna...?"

The woman hastily held up a hand and shook her head. "No, there is no need for that kind of formality here. Please, call me Paola." She turned back to her sister. "Annetta, could you find something for us to drink? I imagine our guest must be thirsty."

Annetta nodded and headed for the stairs, leaving Ezio, Federico and Paola alone in the entrance hall except for the gaggle of courtesans still hanging around the brothel's entrance hall. Paola loudly clapped her hands, drawing the courtesans' attention to her. "Girls, go about your business," she called. "I will send for you when I need you."

With wistful sighs, the girls dispersed.

Paola beckoned them into the intimate parlor, draping herself against a plush red-and-gold lounge. She gestured towards a similar lounge across from her. "Have a seat, Ezio."

Ezio hesitantly sat down on the lounge. "Thank you for offering your home to my family, Paola," he said as Federico leaned against the lounge's arm. It took a surprising amount of concentration to not pass through it.

"It was no trouble at all, I assure you," said Paola. "But you must be tired after everything's that's happened. I have an empty room you're welcome to use if yo-"

Ezio vehemently shook his head, cutting her off before she could finish. "No, thank you all the same. I can't stay."

Paola quirked an eyebrow at that. "Oh? Why? Where are you going in such a hurry?" she asked as Annetta returned with two glasses of wine, setting them on the small wooden table between Ezio and Paola before leaving.

Ezio took a deep breath. "To kill Uberto Alberti," he announced.

Federico blanched in shock and turned towards his younger brother. "What, right now, Ezio? You're not prepared! If you try to go after him now, you'll only get yourself killed."

His mouth a taut line, Ezio stubbornly ignored Federico. "Alberti will die before the day is over, by my hand."

"No, Ezio. Think this through," said Federico. "The only weapons you have are either broken or you don't know how to use! There is nothing I'd like more than for Alberti to die for what he's done to us, to our family, but revenge on him does none of us any good if you die too. Do you want Claudia to lose another brother, Mother to lose her last son?"

Ezio silently glared at his older brother.

"I see." Paola picked up a glass from the table, lightly swirling the dark-red wine before she took a sip. "Perhaps you should listen more to what your mysterious yet very talkative ghost is telling you, Ezio."

There was a moment of complete silence in the parlor as both brothers stared at her. Unperturbed, she lazily swirled the wine in her glass.

"What did yo...?" Ezio began to ask, his voice trailing off.

Over the rim of her glass, Paola gave them an enigmatic, cat-like grin as her dark eyes momentarily burned gold.

"So you _do_ have the second sight!" Federico said, pointing a finger at her. "I thought the gold in your eyes when we came in before was just a trick of the light."

Paola smirked slightly. "In my profession, it helps to know a visitor's true intentions before welcoming them into my house." She took another sip of wine before placing the glass back down on the table and turned to look at Federico. "I will admit my gift does not usually reveal spirits, however." She studied him for a moment before speaking again. "You're Giovanni's oldest son, yes? Federico Auditore?"

Federico nodded. Even without the aid of her second sight, the full force of her gaze felt piercing enough to pin him to the wall behind him.

Paola inclined her head towards him slightly. "Then, Messer Federico, it's a pleasure to meet you as well, however much I wish it was, _ah_ , under better circumstances, shall we say?"

"Likewise, Paola."

With another smile, Paola returned her attention to the younger Auditore brother. "Ezio, I understand your desire for swift vengeance – perhaps moreso than you realize – but the Gonfaloniere is a very powerful and well-protected man. You are not a killer yet- "

Ezio crossed his arms, sinking back against the lounge. "Spare me the lecture," he said cutting her off. "I've already heard it." His eyes flicked up to his older brother.

"Then maybe you need to hear it again, little brother," chided Federico lightly.

"But I can make you one," continued Paola as if Ezio and Federico hadn't interrupted her.

Federico's eyebrows travelled up to his hairline. Paola was full of surprises, it seemed.

"Wait, you can teach me how to kill?" asked Ezio, sitting up with sudden interest.

Paola shook her head. "No, Ezio. I can teach you how to survive." She turned to look at Federico and jabbed a finger in his direction. "And you Federico, I can show how to be a better ghost."

* * *

 _Sorry Federico. Just 'cause you're dead doesn't mean Paola can't show you a few things too. c:_


	4. part four

**Afterlife**

 _part four_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

Federico and a cluster of Paola's girls watched Ezio practice lifting a courtesan's purse in the garden courtyard of La Rosa Colta. Ezio nonchalantly brushed against his target as Paola had shown him, gently knocking his shoulder into her and reaching for the pursestrings at the same time to quickly untie it.

Except Ezio wasn't quite fast enough, and the purse was still attached to the courtesan when she began to walk away from him. Ezio let out a noise of frustration when the purse moved out of his grasp, reaching out an arm to stop her. As he touched her bare shoulder, the loosened strings finally slipped apart and the purse fell from the courtesan's skirt, loudly spilling its contents across the cobblestones in the courtyard.

Federico winced in sympathy as Ezio's face turned red from embarrassment. So close after hours of practice.

"Thief, thief," the courtesan said without enthusiasm, shifting on her bare feet. "Stop him."

"And you have been caught trying to steal," Paola said to Ezio, moving next to Federico. She held a bright red apple in one hand. "Look, here come the guards to throw you into prison."

Ezio groaned, stooping down to scoop the coins back into the small purse and hand it back to the courtesan. "I almost had it that time, Paola."

"That is true. And you are much better at pick-pocketing now than when we first started," said Paola. "But _almost_ being able to steal isn't what I'm teaching you, Ezio. Try it again. Oh, and do not interact with your target more than you have to – it increases the chances they might remember you later, when they realize their purse is missing. You do not want to be remembered."

Ezio nodded.

Paola turned to Federico as Ezio and the courtesan moved back into their starting positions for another attempt. "We will leave them to this, for the moment," she said to him quietly. "It's your turn now. Come with me."

She brought him up the floors of the brothel and into the building's spacious attic, ivy crawling over the windowpanes. "This should work nicely for our purposes," she said. "My girls are not allowed up here. We will not be disturbed."

"All right, Paola – how are you going to teach a dead man to be a better ghost?" said Federico.

"I'll tell you," Paola smiled. "Your problem, Federico, is that you're confused. You act like a man who is still alive when that is, unfortunately, no longer the case," she said.

Federico snorted. "I'm very much aware of that fact I'm dead, Paola. That's not really a revelation to me."

Paola shook her head, the dark-red fabric of her headpiece fluttering slightly. "You misunderstand me, Federico. You are still thinking as if you were alive, when you should be thinking as a spirit. Ghosts are invisible, incorporeal, not bound to the same laws the living are. You can use this to your advantage to get revenge on the man who betrayed your family. But first, I want you to catch this." She held up the apple.

Federico looked at her in confusion. How could she expect him to catch something? "But you just said -"

Paola gave him a knowing grin. "I know what I said, Federico. Try to catch the apple anyway."

She gently tossed the apple towards him. Feeling slightly foolish, Federico reached out and attempted to catch it. The apple passed through the palm of his hand without any resistance, landing on the floor behind him in a dusty corner.

"We'll try again," said Paola.

"I can't do it," said Federico after several more failed attempts at catching the apple. "I can't even touch the damn apple!"

"You can't?" said Paola with a small frown, kneeling down to pick up the apple where it'd fallen. "But you can touch other things, Federico. You don't plummet down through the floor when you walk. Ezio told me you were still able to climb up buildings, and I saw you lean against the furniture earlier. But I imagine even those things felt rather insubstantial to you, yes? "

There was an uncomfortable silence. "That's right," said Federico. The only thing that had felt genuinely solid to him as a ghost was Ezio.

"Do you know why you can do those things, but you can't catch this apple?"

"No," said Federico with surprise. "Do you?"

She nodded. "Your natural state as a ghost is to be intangible, but even if you're not aware of it, you still expect a building to support you, for your feet to not pass through the floor when you stand. In your mind, even as a ghost those objects are solid and immovable. But something as small and light as this?" She held up the bruised apple. "Not as easy for your mind to accept as solid. Unless you consciously choose to think of it that way, of course. Your mind is the key."

She spoke with so much confidence and authority regarding ghosts that Federico found himself asking, "Have you ever seen one before, Paola?"

"Seen a ghost before you came here with your brother? I have," said Paola, looking down at the apple. "My mother and father were the first ones."

Federico was silent, not knowing what to say. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's all right. They died at sea when I was Ezio's age and my sister was only a young child. Their spirits came to say their final goodbyes to Annetta and I the night their ship was lost." She paused. "Annetta couldn't see them at all; she lacks the second sight. So I told her what they were saying – that they loved both of us, that we had to look out for each other – and then they disappeared. That was the only time I saw them." She was quiet for a moment and polished the bruised apple with one of her sleeves. "Shall we try again?" she said.

Federico nodded, carefully considering what she'd just told him. As Paola tossed the apple to him again and he watched it arc through the air, he repeated a mantra inside his head: _'The apple's solid, I can catch it, the apple's solid, I can catch it...'_

This time, he caught the apple for a moment, translucent fingers pressed against the firm red skin. He stared at it in shock before he lost his concentration and the apple slowly slid down through his hand. It landed at his feet.

Concentrating, Federico managed to nudge the apple on the floor with the toe of his boot and gently rolled it back to Paola.

"You're a very quick learner, Federico," said Paola approvingly. "Just like your brother."

Paola tossed the apple to Federico several more times until she was satisfied. He could never hold onto the apple for very long, but he could at least catch it every time she threw it. Afterwards, Paola and Federico watched Ezio attempting to pickpocket the courtesan from the attic window facing the courtyard in a comfortable silence. When Ezio finally succeeded at lifting the purse without the courtesan noticing, he held the stolen purse above his head with a wide smile. The group of Paola's girls surrounded him and loudly cheered, one kissing his cheek. Federico grinned, proud of his little brother.

But something was bothering him, something Paola had told him about her parents.

"Why do you think you didn't see the ghosts of your parents again, Paola?" Federico asked.

"Because they had done what they'd needed to do. They were at peace," she sighed, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "I do not think the dead and the living were meant to walk side-by-side forever."

* * *

 _This chapter would've been up sooner if I hadn't had to spend Monday night reinstalling OS X on my Mac after a software update went sideways. At least all my files were OK..._

 _Thank you all for the kind reviews so far. They do mean a lot to me. c:_


	5. part five

**Afterlife**

 _part five_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

While most businesses in Firenze closed after the sun went down, La Rosa Colta never completely fell silent. A steady steam of clients and courtesans passed through the doors at all hours, day or night. In a way, Federico was glad. It felt less like he was haunting the brothel when things never fully settled down for the night, even if the only two people in the building who could see him weren't around at the moment. His brother was upstairs in one of the spare bedrooms, asleep after almost collapsing from exhaustion after dinner.

That still left one person he could pester.

He found Paola in a large room that appeared to be her office, candles burning around her desk as she wrote in a ledger.

"Paola, I have a request," he said.

She glanced up at him from her book. "Hmm?"

"I'd like to see my mother and Claudia," Federico told her. They were the reason he and Ezio had come to the brothel in the first place - it hadn't escaped his notice that Paola hadn't allowed them to see each other yet.

Paola looked at him for a moment before she nodded. "Of course," she said, placing a white feather quill in a silver inkstand. "I'll show you to their room."

She brought him to a room at the end of the hallway on the third floor. Unlike the other rooms they passed, which had signs on the doors proclaiming them to be 'The Violet Room' or 'The Poppy Room', this one was unmarked. Paola knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in," called Claudia's voice through the thick wooden door.

Instead of opening the door, Paola pulled out a ring of keys from the folds of her dress.

Federico grimaced, radiating displeasure. "Is it really necessary to keep them locked inside?"

Paola sighed as she slid the key into the lock. "I wish it wasn't, but your mother sometimes wanders, and she cannot be seen here by my clientele." With a loud 'click', the lock disengaged.

The room was simply decorated, with two small beds, a washstand, a desk and chair, and a mirror hanging on the wall. A small vase of freshly cut flowers rested on the desk next to a tray of food, one set of plates clean and the other looking as though it'd barely been touched. His mother sat on one of the beds, clutching Petruccio's wooden box in her lap and staring off into the distance, eyes glazed over. Claudia quickly stood up from behind the desk as Paola opened the door.

A wave of relief washed over him as he looked at his younger sister. Just as Ezio had said, Claudia hadn't been hurt. The expression on her face was achingly familiar, so much so he stepped towards her to console her without thinking. But she didn't look at him, her eyes focused solely on Paola. Instead, she walked through Federico as if he were little more than mist or fog.

Federico froze in place, a strange pins-and-needles sensation lingering where his sister had passed through him. Until now, he hadn't realized how much part of him had hoped that she could somehow see or hear him, just as Ezio had. But Claudia didn't have Ezio's gift – from what his father had told him, she was still a little too young for the second sight to manifest itself. Perhaps someday she would develop the second sight, or perhaps not.

"You cannot just keep us locked up here," Claudia said to Paola, her words sharp. "Otherwise I am as much a prisoner as my father and brothers are!"

Her words hit Federico like a solid blow to the gut.

 _She doesn't know. Neither of them do._

He wheeled around to face Paola, eyes blazing. "You didn't tell them what happened?" he said, his own temper steadily rising.

Paola winced almost imperceptibly but otherwise ignored him. "I'm sorry, but it's not in your best interest to leave at the moment," she told Claudia.

Claudia glared at her, chest swelling with indignation. "Don't you dare tell me what is or is not in my best interest – I'll decide for myself! I am not a simpering little child and I refuse to be treated like one! In case you've forgotten, I am an Auditore, not a weak, helpless flower!"

Federico found himself grinning slightly. His sister had a fierce temper and an even fiercer tongue; it was surprisingly heartening to see neither had been dulled by what she'd gone through over the past few days.

Paola had remained silent through Claudia's tirade, her face carefully schooled to be sympathetic but unyielding.

Seeing that no amount of angry words were going to sway Paola, Claudia let out an angry hiss and turned away from her.

Paola picked up the tray from the desk and glanced down at the plates. "Your mother didn't eat much of her evening meal."

Claudia scowled, looking down at the hem of her dress. "I persuaded her to take few bites," she said stiffly. "I don't know how to get her to eat any more."

Federico kneeled in front of his mother. She had always been so strong and full of life – to see her so broken, so apparently empty was an unpleasant surprise. He reached out a hand to grasp her arm but stopped and hesitantly pulled his hand back. In the strange state she was in, being touched by someone she couldn't see might do more harm than good.

With a quick glance to Federico, Paola left the room with the tray of dirty dishes. As soon as she shut the door, Claudia collapsed down into the chair, putting her head down on the desk's surface. Her shoulders hitched up and down as she began to cry.

It was obvious why she was upset: she was being kept hidden in a place she didn't know, alone except for her mother who still appeared to be in shock. Claudia was sick with worry - for their mother's fragile state and for him, their father, and their youngest brother, who as far as she knew were all still locked up in prison.

It was horrible, watching her cry and not being able to comfort her.

Federico covered one of her hands with his. Although she felt just as solid to him as Ezio did, she didn't seem to notice his touch like Ezio had on the docks. "Little sister, you are so very brave," he told her, although he knew she didn't realize he was there. Even if she couldn't see him, perhaps his presence was still felt in some small way. "I'm proud of you."

He sat with her until her sobs quieted and she rubbed the tears from her eyes. When she got up to blow out the candles burning around the room, Federico drifted towards the door, which presented a new challenge to him - Paola had closed and locked the door again when she'd left.

 _What was it she said earlier? I need to think like a spirit._

With a deep breath, Federico quickly ran towards the solid wood door, and then passed through it. He opened his eyes to find himself in the deserted hallway, the pins-and-needles sensation he'd felt earlier tingling all over his body.

Paola was waiting for him in her office, rolling the nib of the quill she'd been writing with before between her thumb and forefinger.

"You need to tell them what happened to me, Petruccio and Father," Federico told her. "They deserve to know – it's not fair to keep our deaths from them like this."

In the candlelight Paola looked much older as she considered what he'd said. "Yes, they should be told," she said quietly. "But they should not have to hear such horrible news from someone they barely know."

Federico found that he agreed with her. "No. It should be Ezio."

* * *

 _I found a shimeji (desktop buddy) program that works on my Mac, so now I have a tiny Ezio climbing up my laptop screen. He's extremely adorable. c:_

 _Updates will resume after Easter, since this weekend's going to be a little nutty._

 _As always, thank you for the reviews, favs and alerts!_


	6. part six

**Afterlife**

 _part six_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

"Ezio. Little brother, it's time to wake up."

The sunshine was shining directly into Ezio's eyes, but it still felt too early for his older brother to be dragging him out of his warm, comfortable bed. He was still exhausted even after a night of sleep - a deep, bone-weary soreness ran through every muscle, and he couldn't remember why. Half-asleep, his memories of the past few days were just out of reach.

Ezio groaned and rolled over onto his side, away from his brother. "Go away, Federico. Let me rest."

"Annetta has breakfast ready for you, Claudia, and Mother," said Federico. "You shouldn't keep them waiting."

"Then tell them to start without me," Ezio mumbled into his pillow.

There was an awkward pause from his older brother, and Ezio had almost contentedly drifted back to sleep when he heard Federico sigh. Instead of teasing his younger brother about his laziness, Federico only said, "Ezio, you need to get up."

Ezio began to feel a vague feeling of unease. It wasn't like Federico to pass up an opportunity to poke fun at him. Grumbling, he sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. Something was wrong. He was in a strange room he didn't recognize, not his familiar bedroom at the Palazzo Auditore.

And when he looked at his brother, he could see through Federico to the dark blue curtains behind him.

Federico gave Ezio an almost sheepish smile. "I suppose I could try to tell them you want to sleep in, but I'm not sure what good it'd do, considering they can't see or hear me."

Ezio's memories came flooding back in a maelstrom of emotions – his father and brothers in prison, Uberto Alberti's betrayal, the hangings, Christina, Federico's ghost, seeking refuge at La Rosa Colta, Paola's lessons.

His father and brothers were dead because of Uberto Alberti.

As he pulled the bedcovers off, he wished he could forget again.

* * *

Paola let Ezio and Federico into Claudia and Maria's room, Ezio carrying a tray with three large cherry tarts, a small bottle of wine, and three empty glasses on it. With a sympathetic look, she quietly shut the door, leaving the Auditores alone.

While Ezio had walked up from the kitchen to the third floor, Federico told him of his visit to their sister's and mother's room last night and the conversation he'd had with Paola afterwards. As the three of them approached the unmarked door at the end of the hall, Ezio's stomach was yanking itself into knots – he wanted to see his mother and sister again, but knowing he would have to be the one to tell them what had happened to Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio made his feet feel like lead.

He would be taking that last spark of hope Claudia and his mother had that things could go back to the way they'd been before and grinding it into dust.

Claudia looked up from their mother's bed when she heard the door open. She had been carefully brushing out Maria's greying hair and her face brightened when she saw him. "Ezio!" She put the brush down and dashed to Ezio, who put the tray down on the desk just before Claudia threw her arms around her brother's neck tightly. "It's so good to see you!"

Ezio grinned at her, although the smile felt half-hearted to him. "Good morning, Claudia."

When Claudia let go of him, Ezio was surprised to see their mother standing behind his sister, her eyes and expression still flat. She embraced him demurely, not seeming to notice he was wearing his father's robes.

"Where have you been? I was worried," huffed Claudia. "And where are Father, Federico and Petruccio?"

Ezio and Federico shared a despondent look.

"You can't keep it from them forever," said Federico after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

Curious, Claudia glanced at where Ezio had looked, a crease appearing between her eyebrows when she saw nothing there. "A-are they all right? Annetta and her sister wouldn't let us leave this place, and nobody has told us anything about them since we got here." She made an effort to sound calm, but there was an edge of quavering nervousness running through her words as she spoke.

Her unanswered questions seemed to hang in the air between them.

Ezio's shoulders sagged. When he spoke, his voice was thick. "I'm sorry, Claudia. Something's...happened."

"What are you talking about?" Claudia's eyes widened in horror as the terrible realization began to dawn. She took a step back, away from Ezio. "No. No, you're not..."

Ezio looked down at her with sorrowful eyes. "Claudia..."

Claudia shook her head, pointedly not looking at Ezio. "No, they cannot be dead! I-I refuse to believe it," she said, even as tears began to fall. She covered her face with her hands and let out a choking sob.

Maria stood still, her face betraying no emotion, as if she had been turned to stone.

Ezio opened his arms and Claudia ran into his embrace, clutching at his doublet. Ezio held out one hand towards his mother and Federico. His brother took his hand and Ezio pulled him into the embrace as well. Federico looped his arms around Claudia and Ezio, squeezing them tightly.

Maria hadn't moved at all. The tears running silently down her face were the only signs she'd heard him.

"I'm so sorry, little one," Ezio said gently, rubbing Claudia's back soothingly.

"What happened to them, Ezio?" said Claudia through her tears. "How could they be dead?"

Ezio hesitated before answering her. "They were betrayed by a man Father thought he could trust."

"And this man is still alive?"

"Not for much longer," said Ezio, his voice low and dark.

"You still need a weapon you know how to use before you can take revenge on Alberti, little brother," said Federico.

Ezio glanced at Federico and rolled his eyes.

Claudia followed Ezio's eyes again and frowned. "Why do you keep looking in that spot, Ezio?" she asked, gesturing at where Federico was standing. Her hand waved through her oldest brother's chest. "There's nothing there."

"That feels strange," said Federico with a grimace, shifting away from Claudia's hand.

Ezio's eyes flicked over to Federico. "Um - " he began, then stopped. What could he say?

Federico gave him an odd half-smile. "Claudia's very observant."

"There! You did it again, just now!" said Claudia to Ezio accusingly. "What on Earth are you looking at?"

Ezio chewed his bottom lip for a moment and sighed. He couldn't keep Federico's ghost a secret from her, even if he had no way to prove to her he was telling the truth. "Claudia, do you remember my second sight? How I can see things most other people can't?"

Claudia's eyebrows furrowed together. "Yes," she said, clearly confused. "Mostly I remember Father being ecstatic you had such a 'rare gift.' Why?"

"I didn't know this until a few days ago, but my second sight lets me see the dead as well," said Ezio uneasily. "I'm looking at Federico."

For a moment, Claudia's face was frozen in surprise, until her mouth drooped into a doubtful scowl. "That is not at all funny, Ezio. How could you think of joking at a time like this?"

Ezio shifted on his feet self-consciously, aware of their mother's eyes staring at him. "It, ah, wasn't supposed to be a joke, little one."

"He's not lying, I'm right here," said Federico to Claudia. "Just slightly more...transparent than the last time you saw me."

"She doesn't have the sight," Ezio said. "She can't see you at all."

"Stop talking to people who aren't there!" Claudia said to Ezio, balling her hands into fists. She let out a noise of pure frustration. "Am I the only one in this family who hasn't lost their mind?"

An idea struck Federico as he looked at the vase of flowers on the desk. "Hold on, I'll prove it." He reached out for one of the white roses in the vase. Sliding his fingers underneath the petals, he let out a small huff of air and concentrated as hard as he could on the flower.

 _'Solid, it's solid, I can touch it...'_

Federico's translucent fingers caught the white rose and he carefully lifted it out of the vase. The flower was much lighter and less dense than the apple he'd practiced on with Paola. He heard Claudia give a soft gasp – to her it must look like the rose was floating by itself in the air – as he turned around and offered her the rose. "For you, little sister," he said.

Claudia cautiously took the rose in trembling fingers. "What..." she said quietly. She stared at the rose, dumbfounded, and then at the spot in front of her. "Federico?" she said in a quiet voice.

Federico smiled down at his sister, even if she couldn't see it. Her eyes didn't quite meet his, but it felt surprisingly good to have Claudia finally aware of his presence. "Hello there, Claudia."

"Now that is a very good trick," asked Ezio, almost as surprised as his sister. "How did you learn to do that?"

Federico grinned. "Paola."

"Ah, I should've guessed."

Claudia glanced down at the rose. "So perhaps I might - _might_ \- be willing to believe your mysterious second sight allows you to see Federico's spirit," she said haltingly to Ezio. "Are Father and Petruccio here too?"

Ezio shook his head. "No, little one," he said gently, watching her face fall.

"But, how?" she asked.

"We're not sure either," said Ezio. He gestured towards the desk and the tray of food he'd brought up from the kitchen. "But I can tell you what we've been up to over breakfast."

* * *

 _And we're back. Hope everyone who celebrated it had a good Easter._


	7. part seven

**Afterlife**

 _part seven_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

"That went about as well as it could've, I think."

Ezio shot his brother a questioning look as he stepped out from the brothel's small scullery. "I had to tell them you, Father and Petruccio are dead. Mother is still in shock, and Claudia thought I'd gone mad when I started talking to you. That was torture."

"It could've gone worse," Federico pointed out. "At least nobody started screaming."

Ezio shook his head as he opened the doors leading to the brothel's courtyard. Just as Annetta had said, Paola was waiting there, sitting on a stone bench beneath a tall tree.

"You wanted to see us, Paola?" said Federico.

"Yes," she said, standing up. She approached the two brothers, laying a hand on Ezio's arm. "I have some things to discuss with the two of you, but first things first - how are Maria and Claudia?"

"Heartbroken," said Ezio, dropping his head. "Although I think Claudia wants Alberti's head on a pike as much as I do."

One of Paola's eyebrows shifted upwards. "Are you that surprised? He did betray and kill half of her family," she said. "Of course she wants vengeance against him as well."

Ezio sighed, nodding in agreement. "And Mother..." he trailed off. "Mother is the same as the last time I saw her. No change. She seemed to understand what had happened to Father, Federico and Pettrucio when I told her, but Claudia said she still hasn't spoken a word to anyone."

Neither of the brothers were sure what exactly she thought of Federico being a ghost. Unlike the news of the hangings, where she'd cried, she hadn't seemed to react at all to the revelation that her eldest son's spirit was still present.

"How long has Mother been like that?" asked Federico quietly.

"Since the night you, Father and Petruccio were taken from the Palazzo Auditore," said Ezio. His mouth screwed up in a sudden burst of anger. "Alberti is the root of all our family's suffering, that traitorous pig!" He turned to Paola. "I am tired of waiting for my revenge. That _bastardo_ needs to die."

"I have taught you how to approach the enemy without being seen," said Paola. "Now all we need to do is find you a suitable weapon."

Ezio looked puzzled for a moment before he gave an almost petulant frown. "I'd wring Alberti's neck with my bare hands if I had to."

Federico snorted. "I thought the same thing before I died."

"I would not advise that," said Paola. "The guards Alberti surrounds himself with would be on you in a moment, and fists against swords would be a very quick fight. Now, I can see you carry a great deal of weaponry, but do you actually know how to use any of it?"

Ezio grimaced, looking down at the throwing knives attached to his belt. He slowly shook his head. "I have a little training with a sword, but I lost the one I had with me. What would you suggest I use?"

Paola grinned. "Ah, but you have another weapon." She removed the broken pieces of Giovanni's hidden blade from behind her back, along with the rolled-up scroll Ezio had found with the rest of his father's belongings inside the hidden chamber.

"Father's blade and bracer!" Ezio stared at her for a moment, and then looked down to the leather cuff around his wrist where the hidden blade had been attached only a few moments ago. "Did you see her take those?" he asked Federico.

Federico shook his head. "How'd you get them?" he asked Paola.

"Boys, really. I've been lifting purses since before either of you were born," said Paola with a slight smirk. She handed the broken hidden blade to Ezio. The blade was completely separated from the rest of the bracer, snapped cleanly in two. It'd been damaged in battle only a few days before, and Giovani had died before he'd gotten a chance to find someone to repair it. For something so seemingly simple, the hidden blade was a surprisingly complicated weapon. Its complex inner workings were beyond what its owner was capable of repairing themselves.

"But what good is a broken weapon?" asked Federico as Ezio reattached the hidden blade to the leather cuff. "He can't fight with it like that."

"It's not exactly in working condition," Ezio agreed with a nod, struggling to slide the broken silver blade back inside the mechanism hidden inside the bracer. With a grunt, the blade finally clicked into place. He looked down at the bracer and frowned. "I'm not quite sure how it would work even if it wasn't broken."

"You'd flex your wrist and the blade would spring out," said Federico, thinking of the few times he'd seen Father use the hidden blade. "Again, and the blade would retract."

"The blade can be fixed, but a weapon this unique needs someone special to repair it," said Paola. "Not just any blacksmith will be able to do that."

"Then who can? Do you know someone?" asked Ezio.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Paola tilted her head slightly. "I'm sure you're both familiar with Leonardo da Vinci, yes?"

"You can't mean the painter?" said Federico in disbelief. Leonardo had seemed nice enough on the few occasions he'd bumped into him around Firenze, but he wasn't sure he trusted him to fix Father's hidden blade. If Leonardo didn't know precisely what he was doing, it wouldn't take much well-intentioned tampering to damage the hidden blade beyond any hope of repair. Why would Paola suggest he was the best person to fix it above people whose jobs were to repair weaponry?

"That is exactly who I mean. How many Leonardos from Vinci do you know of, Federico?"

"I met him a few days ago. Mother had commissioned a few paintings from him," said Ezio, sounding doubtful. "I suppose he's a skilled enough artist, but how can a painter fix Father's weapon?"

"He's not just a painter. If there's any man in Firenze clever enough to fix your father's blade, it would be him." She smiled warmly at them. "Just bring him the pieces and you'll see for yourselves."

* * *

When Federico and Ezio set out for Leonardo's workshop, there were fewer archers stationed along the roofs of the buildings, but there were still too many for Federico's liking. It wasn't like the last time they'd gone up on the rooftops, when the night had helped hide Ezio's presence from the archers. The light-colored robes in the noonday sun would render him extremely visible against the darker clay shingles, and make it more obvious he wasn't supposed to be running around on the rooftops in the first place.

When Ezio started to climb up the side of the building across the street from the brothel's courtyard, Federico stopped him. "Hold on a moment, little brother. Paola taught you how to blend in with crowds, didn't she?"

"Yes," said Ezio slowly, looking down at Federico while dangling from a windowsill.

"Show me, then," said Federico, crossing his arms. "Unless it was too difficult for you to master, of course."

It was an incredibly transparent ploy to keep Ezio off the rooftops, but it played well to his brother's pride and highly competitive nature.

Ezio rolled his eyes, but dropped back down to the crates pushed up against the wall. "It's not that difficult," he said under his breath, waiting for a large cluster of people to pass by the crates. Ezio smoothly inserted himself into the middle of the crowd, walking past a large group of armed guards without drawing any attention from them.

Federico attempted to stay as close to his brother as possible, but people attempting to walk through him or a hand or errant foot abruptly passing through him began to wear on his nerves. He drifted towards the back of the group, where he was less likely to accidentally get poked at.

Leonardo da Vinci's workshop was only a short distance from the brothel, but they still had to be extremely careful. Ezio and Federico kept moving from group to group of people, never staying by themselves for too long. A herald they passed cried out to an assembled crowd that Ezio Auditore, son of "the traitor to Firenze" Giovanni Auditore, was still at large.

 _Traitor to Firenze_. Federico frowned, feeling a cold anger wash over him. All the respect and goodwill their father had built up in Firenze over his lifetime, everything honorable the Auditore family name stood for, had been wiped cleanly away by Alberti in only three days.

The herald then proclaimed that a substantial reward would be given to anyone with knowledge of Ezio Auditore's whereabouts that lead to his capture.

Ezio stumbled slightly, almost walking into the back of the woman in front of him.

With that unwelcome news, Ezio and Federico moved away from the crowd listen to the herald as inconspicuously as they could. The same thoughts ran through their heads: they'd anticipated that the guards would still be looking for Ezio, but if anyone in the crowd recognized him and blew his cover for the promise of a reward, he'd have most of the city guards after him in no time at all. Nobody could be trusted.

And when they were less than sixty feet from the door to Leonardo's workshop, an older man's voice cut through the noise of the crowd, shouting, "Auditore!"

* * *

 _I'm sure most people know this already, but Leonardo da Vinci didn't have a last name. 'Da Vinci' means 'from Vinci', which was the town where he was born, like how Ezio's sometimes called 'Ezio Auditore da Firenze', with Firenze (Florence) being where he was from. (Although unlike Leo, Ezio obviously does have a family name.)_ _Leonardo's full name was technically 'Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci', which meant 'Leonardo, son of Piero, from Vinci'._ _That's why Paola asks Federico if he knows of any other 'Leonardos from Vinci'._

 _I try not to mix Italian words in too much, and originally I used the English term there instead, but it seemed wrong somehow to have Ezio call Alberti 'bastard' instead of 'bastardo'._


	8. part eight

**Afterlife**

 _part eight_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

 _"Federico, I'm depending on you. You are the eldest. Protect the family."_

It had only been less than seven days since his father had spoken those words to Federico. Now he, his father, and youngest brother were all dead, Federico himself had returned as a ghost, his mother's mind had seemingly fractured, and his only surviving brother had a large bounty on his head for his capture.

 _'I'm sorry, Father – I don't think I'm very good at protecting anyone.'_

Federico picked out the man who had spotted Ezio, an older man dressed in simple clothes that Federico vaguely recognized - he was a blacksmith that the Auditores had frequented before Alberti had betrayed them. Luckily, the guards hadn't had an opportunity to hang posters with Ezio's face on them around the city yet - unlike the blacksmith, most of Firenze had no idea what Ezio looked like. The heavy crowd in the street was working to Ezio's favor at the moment, since no one could make out exactly who the blacksmith was shouting at. Imitating the actions of several people in the crowd, Ezio looked around curiously, like he was searching for the traitorous Auditore as well.

A group of guards approached the blacksmith, one of the listening to something the blacksmith was telling him. Federico saw the blacksmith point in Ezio's direction.

"We have to go," said Federico hurriedly.

"Where?" Ezio said out of the corner of his mouth. One of the things Paola had taught him was that fast movements, liking running, drew attention. Bolting at the first sign of trouble could actually make it harder to escape, since running away would confirm to suspicious guards that he was the one they were really searching for.

At the same time, Ezio had to get away from the guards. Unlike the majority of the citizens of Firenze, the guards did know his face, and the closer they got to his position, the easier it would be to pick him out from everyone else.

Federico quickly looked around for a way to escape the guards, thankful that he couldn't be seen by anyone else. "Alley on your right." A few people were trickling in and out of the alley, enough to hopefully hide Ezio's actions. From there they should be able to climb up onto the roof. "But you'll need to distract the guards."

Ezio nodded. A smile came to his mouth, and then he reached inside his own coin purse and slowly removed a handful of gold coins. With the half-cape of his father's robes covering his arm, he surreptitiously let the coins drop onto the street behind him. Ezio pretended not to notice the sound of the metal hitting against the stones, walking briskly towards the alley.

"Money!" one man cried out, dropping to his knees to scoop up as many of the coins as he could. A woman, her face and hair streaked with soot, gave a thin, wordless cry and tried to claw the shiny golden coins out of his hand. Soon, there was chaos behind him as passers-by began to squabble over the coins.

The guards pushing their way through the crowd were stopped by the throng of people fighting over the coins, and Ezio slipped into the alley unseen by the guards. When none of the people walking past were looking, he quickly scaled the wall of a building and onto the relative safety of the roof, Federico right behind him.

Ezio crouched down behind a chimney, hidden from any nearby rooftop archers, and watched the group of guards slowly work their way past the mob, pushing and cursing at anyone unfortunate enough to be in their way.

"Where is he?" Federico heard one guard shout.

"He must've gone down that alley!"

The guards went sprinting down the twists and turns of the alley with their swords drawn, not one of them bothering to look up as they ran past Ezio's hiding place.

Federico snickered quietly as the guards came out the other end of the alley and looked around in obvious confusion, still trying to locate Ezio in the crowd. "Oh, if only I could see the looks on their faces..." he said.

After another few seconds of awkward milling around, the guards ran off in the direction of the Palazzo Auditore, apparently thinking that would be the most likely place for Ezio to go.

Federico grinned, watching the guards vanish down the street. Both brothers let out a sigh of relief when they were out of sight.

"Perhaps you should stick to the rooftops for now," said Federico.

Ezio sighed.

Leonardo da Vinci's workshop was only a few rooftops away, although instead of dropping back down into the street and risk being seen by the guards again, Ezio climbed down into the small courtyard to the side of the building.

"There's no door to the workshop," said Ezio after a moment. The only way out of the courtyard was a small stone archway that lead to the street. As the two brothers watched, another group of guards walked past the arch.

"No," Federico agreed. He pointed to two small windows built into the wall of Leonardo's building, one pushed open to let in sunlight and fresh air. "But that doesn't mean there isn't a way inside."

"If I were still a child, maybe," scoffed Ezio, eying the window.

"I have faith in you, little brother." Federico patted Ezio's back. "Christina's window isn't much larger."

With a resigned frown, Ezio squeezed himself in through the open window, silently placing his feet on top of a solid wooden bookcase shoved against the wall inside. Federico simply passed through the wall and bookcase, finding himself in a corner of the workshop.

Federico had never visited Leonardo da Vinci's workshop before. Several paintings in various stages of completion were positioned around the workshop, along with models of strange-looking machines made from wood. Leonardo's long workbench was covered underneath a stack of books, papers, and tools. Leonardo himself was standing in front of the workbench, examining something in one of the books. In front of him was a two-foot-tall clay sculpture of a horse that was obviously still being worked on.

Leonardo frowned, noticing the large hooded shadow suddenly appearing over the pages of his book, and then looked up.

"What on Earth?" he said, staring at the man crouching on top of one of his dusty bookcases. His eyes grew wide as Ezio lowered his hood, allowing Leonardo to get a good look at his face. "My goodness. Ezio Auditore? I, ah, didn't think I'd see you again, especially not after everything that's happened."

"I'm sorry for coming in this way, but I didn't want to be spotted," Ezio said, climbing down the bookcase. "Most of the guards in Firenze are looking for me."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all!" said Leonardo, with a grin. "Welcome back to my workshop!" He drew Ezio into a surprisingly tight hug, if the stunned expression on Ezio's face was any indication. Federico laughed as Ezio awkwardly patted Leonardo's back. "Now, tell me how may I be of assistance? That is why you went to the trouble of climbing in through my window, correct?"

Nodding, Ezio began to remove the hidden blade from his wrist. "I was hoping you could repair this?" He handed it to Leonardo, along with the cuff and scroll.

Federico's fears regarding Leonardo's ability to fix the hidden blade began to fade when he saw the man's eyes light up as he turned the mechanism over in his hands.

"Remarkable," Leonardo said after a moment. "Is it a weapon? Yes, I can see there's a blade," he said without giving Ezio time to answer. He glanced down at his workbench, momentarily setting the hidden blade down on top of a stack of books. He shook his head. "Oh, what a mess. I've spent the whole day working," he muttered to himself, clearing the papers and books off. He set the hidden blade, bracer, leather cuff and scroll down in the center of his workbench, a look of intense concentration settling over his face as he examined the hidden blade.

"If he's able to fix that blade, he's worth every florin Mother paid him for his paintings," Federico said, sitting down on the workbench next to Leonardo.

* * *

 _The clay sculpture in Leo's workshop is the preliminary model for 'Gran Cavallo (Great Horse)', aka 'Leonardo's Horse' - which is also an anachronism, since he wasn't commissioned to work on that statue until 1482 and it would never be completed. But I've always had a soft spot for it, so I wanted to include it._


	9. part nine

**Afterlife**

 _part nine_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

After several more minutes of Leonardo quietly muttering to himself as he inspected the hidden blade from every angle, he finally set the weapon down again. His expression was unreadable to Federico, which immediately made him uneasy.

"Despite its age, the construction is rather advanced," Leonardo began. He sounded just a little too cheerful. "It's truly a fascinating contraption. I've never seen anything quite like it before. Where did y-"

"Never mind that. Can you repair it?" interrupted Ezio anxiously, hovering at his elbow.

Leonardo looked away from Ezio and shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, but there's not much I can do without the original plans."

Ezio couldn't hide his disappointment. "Nothing can be done?"

"I'm afraid not, unless you want to risk further damage to the weapon."

Federico sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, fingers on either side of the small scar there. "Thank you for being absolutely no help whatsoever." His mind raced – who else could they find to fix Father's hidden blade? Paola had seemed so sure that Leonardo could do it.

Leonardo started to hand the hidden blade mechanism back to Ezio, only for his eyes to land on the scroll still sitting on the workbench. Drawing the hidden blade back before Ezio could take it, Leonardo slowly began to unroll the scroll, quickly scanning the yellowed parchment. "Ezio, what is this?" he said, not disguising the curiosity in his voice.

Ezio shrugged, glancing down at the scroll. The words and diagrams drawn on the ancient parchment meant nothing to him. "To be honest, I'm not sure. It was with th-"

A loud, insistent pounding at the workshop's door interrupted him. "By the order of the Florentine Guard, open this door!" a loud voice cried, muffled by the wood.

Scowling at being disturbed, Leonardo carefully rolled the scroll back up. "Ah, just a moment!" he called out loudly, and then turned back to Ezio. "Stay here and keep out of sight," he said quietly. "I'll get rid of him."

"No, Leonardo, wait," Ezio hissed, but Leonardo was already halfway to the door. Ezio turned to look at his brother. ' _Make sure he doesn't get himself in trouble?_ ' he mouthed silently, bringing his hands together in a pleading gesture.

Nodding, Federico pushed himself off of the workbench and shadowed Leonardo to the door. While Ezio and Paola seemed to trust Leonardo, Federico still wasn't sure how much faith he had that Leonardo would not betray Ezio. Federico thought of the blacksmith in the street who'd tried to send the guards after Ezio for the reward money, and of Alberti, a man Father had trusted and respected, who had repaid Father's complete faith in him by accusing Father of treason and hanging him and his sons.

If seemingly loyal friends their family had known for years and years were so eager to stick a knife in their backs, how fast would a struggling young painter Ezio barely knew do the same?

Leonardo opened the door with a pleasant smile to the three uniformed guardsmen standing outside. "Yes?"

"Are you Leonardo da Vinci?" said the guard in the center, his voice terse. Federico noticed that he was the only one carrying a weapon - a thin sword dangled from the guard's hip.

Leonardo nodded, not seeming to notice the barely disguised hostility coming from the trio of guards. "I am. May I help you gentlemen?"

"We need to have a look around your workshop."

Leonardo's smile slowly faded away, leaving confusion in its place as he glanced from guard to guard. "Why would you need to do that?"

The guard glared at him icily, all pretenses of civility gone. "That wasn't a request." The guard roughly shoved Leonardo in the chest, and Leonardo stumbled backwards a few steps before losing his balance.

Acting on instinct, Federico attempted to catch him but Leonardo was falling too fast for him to make himself solid in time. Instead, Leonardo passed through him like smoke and landed roughly on the wooden platform in front of the door, the air rushing out of his lungs.

The guard stepped over the threshold, looming over Leonardo. "When was the last time you saw Ezio Auditore?"

Leonardo slowly sat up. "I'm sorry, who?" he said innocently. "I don't know an Ezio."

 _'He's covering for Ezio,'_ thought Federico in surprise. He glanced back to Leonardo's workbench, but Ezio was nowhere in sight.

Instead of placating the guard, Leonardo's words only served to make him angrier. Before Federico could move to stop him, the guard kicked Leonardo in the stomach, sending him sprawling back down onto the platform groaning in pain. "Don't mock me," rumbled the guard. "We know the Auditores were patrons of yours."

"Did that jog your memory?" one of the guards taunted, unaware of Ezio silently climbing up one of the scaffolding for Leonardo's large canvases behind him. The guard raised his foot to kick Leonardo himself. "Or do you need another reminder?"

"No," said Federico, a cold fury burning inside of him. "He doesn't."

He moved forward, slamming and barring the heavy door shut behind the last guard. The guards barely had time to react to the sudden noise and the realization they were somehow trapped inside the workshop before Federico was upon them.

Coughing, Leonardo carefully slid himself away from the guards as one guard's head snapped back, punched in the face by an invisible opponent. The guard screamed as blood poured out of his newly-broken nose. Another forceful strike to the gut and the guard's scream sudden trailed off. He collapsed as if his bones had been turned to raw dough, lying motionless across the floor.

One of the remaining two guards let out a screech of anger tinged with panic. "Demon! Demon!" he cried, whirling around to locate his unseen opponent. "Show yourself!"

Ezio dropped down from the scaffolding and landed silently behind the guard, roping an arm tightly around the guard's neck. The guard quietly choked, his face turning red as his fingers clawing ineffectively at Ezio's arm, until with one final snap, his body went limp. Releasing him, Ezio let his body fall next to the first guard's.

The last guard standing was the one who'd kicked Leonardo. The air of cruelty he'd had upon pushing his way into the workshop had fallen away. Now he looked at Ezio with fear in his eyes, even as he held up his sword in front of him. "Are you truly a demon?" he asked in a wavering voice. His fingers trembled around the sword's pommel.

"I dealt with one and you dealt with one. What do you think, brother?" said Federico with a smirk. "Should we handle this last guard together?"

Ezio grinned. "Yes."

The guard's eyes widened in shock, and his face grew pale. "What?" he said hoarsely.

Taking advantage of the guard's confusion, Federico grabbed at his sword arm and twisted it as hard as he could. The guard let go the sword with a shout of pain, his arm bent at an unnatural angle. Ezio sprang forward and drove the point of his knee sharply into the guard's stomach. The guard doubled over, not resisting when Ezio grabbed him by the front of his uniform and bodily flung him off the wooden platform and towards the stone floor several feet below. There was a loud crack of bone breaking when he struck the floor, and then he remained completely still.

Ezio held out a hand to Leonardo. "Are you all right?" he asked. "Did they hurt you?"

Leonardo let Ezio pull him back to his feet. "No, I'm all right." A twinge of pain crossed over his face and he rested a hand against his side, giving Ezio a sheepish smile. "A little sore, perhaps."

"I'm sorry, that was all my fault," said Ezio. "Those guards were looking for me."

Leonardo shook his head. "Eh, I'm a favorite of theirs to bother. I've grown accustomed to their abuses. But please, tell me what happened during the fight? That was like nothing I'd ever seen before." The curiosity seemed to shine from his face. "Please, you must tell me how you did it!"

Ezio helped Leonardo to a chair next to his workbench. "It's difficult to explain," Ezio said.

"Oh, I'm very good at listening," said Leonardo eagerly. He unrolled the scroll again, laying it across the workbench.

Ezio hesitated, looking at his brother standing behind Leonardo. With Claudia and their mother, he'd felt they had needed to know what had really happened to Federico after he'd been hanged. Leonardo was different - he wasn't family, and he'd never known Federico before he'd been hanged. But after what Leonardo had gone through to protect Ezio, it didn't seem right to lie to him.

Recognizing the conflicted look on Ezio's face, Federico shrugged. "It's up to you, little brother. But he's shown he can be trusted, I think."

Ezio took a deep breath. "All right."

* * *

 _This was a fun chapter to write - I should have more fights in this fic. c:_


	10. part ten

**Afterlife**

 _part ten_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

Leonardo was far easier to convince than Claudia had been, although it helped that Leonardo had already seen something that should've been impossible.

"That is fascinating! Your brother can still manipulate the world around him even without a truly tangible body?" Leonardo said, interrupting Ezio partway through his condensed explanation of Federico's situation.

Leonardo was not as good a listener as he had claimed earlier.

Federico tapped Leonardo's shoulder, then took a few steps back and laughed as Leonardo spun around. "I'd say so," Federico said, even though Leonardo couldn't see or hear him.

"Amazing," said Leonardo, a look of wonder on his face, bringing his hand near where he judged Federico would be standing, unaware that he had moved. "Am I close?"

"Almost. Three steps forward," said Ezio.

Once he was close, Federico ducked behind Leonardo and tapped his other shoulder.

"Now he's behind you," said Ezio.

Leonardo laughed and then looked over his shoulder. He came closer than Claudia had to looking Federico in the eyes despite not being able to see his face. "I should thank you for helping me, Federico. You and your brother did me a great service."

" _Prego,"_ said Federico with a grin. "Just don't open the door to any more guards while we're here, all right?"

"He says you're welcome," said Ezio tiredly.

"It's so strange talking to someone I can't see. I wonder why only you and Paola can see and hear him, Ezio?" said Leonardo, idly stroking his beard. "I would think that at least Claudia, and possibly your mother or Paola's sister could see him too."

Ezio triggered his second sight in response, washing out the colors of the workshop into shades of hazy greys. The only spots of color in the room were Leonardo and Federico, who both shone a comforting blue. He raised his glowing eyes to Leonardo. "We can see what most others can't."

Leonardo stepped closer to Ezio and peered curiously at his eyes, which were still glowing gold. He touched Ezio's chin, tilting his face down, and then tilted it from side to side. The gold light in Ezio's eyes didn't waver or dim, no matter what the angle. "How are your eyes doing that? It's similar to how a cat's eyes would reflect light, but there's not much light in here to reflect - certainly not enough to make them shine that brightly." He paused, squinting. "But the pupil is the wrong shape for a cat's eye – overall, I'd say it looks more like an eagle's. Very curious. Besides ghosts, what can you see like that?"

"I can tell someone's intentions towards me like this. Guards and enemies look red, friends look blue, and people I'm specifically searching for look gold. I'm not sure of how it works, or why I have it. None of the other members of my family do." Feeling the twinges of a dull headache begin, he grimaced and switched back to his normal vision, much to Leonardo's visible disappointment.

"Tell him about how you scared Claudia half to death when you first developed your second sight," urged Federico. "Or that it took you an hour to figure out how to get your normal sight back."

Ezio rolled his eyes again.

"You and your brother's abilities are truly fascinating, Ezio. I would love to study both of you further at some point." He turned to look at Ezio on the other side of his workbench. "But, as to the reason you came to me in the first place, I believe I can help with that after all."

"My father's broken blade?" said Ezio. "I thought you said that you-?"

"What I told you was that I wouldn't be able to repair it without the original plans, but this changes things," said Leonardo. He gestured towards the yellowed scroll, which was unrolled on top of his workbench. "Come, look here." He pointed to a large diagram drawn in fading ink near the bottom of the page, which appeared to Ezio to be a mass of delicate springs and levers floating around a larger, even more intricate mechanism. "Does that look familiar?"

It took Ezio a moment to recognize the shape of the metal blade itself tucked inside, almost hidden by the other parts of the mechanism. But it appeared to be the exact same blade, right down to the elaborate engravings decorating its flat side.

Ezio nodded. "That would be the blade."

"From this sketch, you can see this is a page from the original plans – thankfully, the relevant one for our purposes," said Leonardo. "As to the writing, well, it's all written in a rather ingenious cipher; whoever designed this weapon wanted to make sure these plans couldn't be read by the wrong person, but I believe I've figured it out. You see, if we transpose the letters and then select every third..." Leonardo glanced up at Ezio's stupefied expression and then smiled. "Ah, I won't bore either of you with the details, but once I have all of it decoded, it should be sufficient for me to fix your father's weapon."

" _Bene_ ," said Ezio, removing the hidden blade from his wrist and placing it on the workbench. "It's all yours, Leonardo."

As Leonardo gathered the tools he would need and began to place dry logs and tinder in the workshop's large fireplace, Ezio collapsed in a chair near the workshop's many bookcases. He was clearly exhausted after a day of running on rooftops and fighting guards, only barely able to stay awake. Showing off his second sight to Leonardo had sapped at his strength, but there was still a kind of inpatient, nervous energy that ran through him despite his exhaustion.

"Do you need any help?" Ezio asked Leonardo, his knee bouncing up and down. "You usually have assistants in your studio, don't you?"

"I do, but I sent them away so I could work on my sculpture in peace. But something like this I can handle by myself, Ezio," Leonardo said kindly, kneeling in front of the fireplace. He struck his firesteel against flint and watched the sparks fall onto the logs. Small flames began to engulf the dry leaves and thin twigs he'd used for tinder. "With the page deciphered, I can see exactly what I'll need to do. Besides, you look tired. Rest, and I'll take care of fixing your weapon."

"It's probably going to take a few hours," Federico told Ezio. "And we cannot do anything until it's repaired. Relax, little brother."

Ezio shook his head stubbornly. "I want to see how he fixes the blade."

Federico shrugged, realizing it would be easier to give in than to argue. "Whatever you say, little brother."

As Federico had guessed, within three minutes Ezio was fast asleep, his head slumped down onto his chest at an uncomfortable angle.

"It seems a shame that I did not get an opportunity to meet you while you were alive, Federico," said Leonardo suddenly, spreading out his tools across his workbench next to the ancient scroll and the hidden blade mechanism. "It would be nice to be able to put a face to you, but unless I spontaneously develop your brother's strange vision, that seems unlikely."

Federico started. As a ghost, he wasn't used to being spoken to by anyone but Ezio and Paola. "Probably. But stranger things have happened," he said, aware that without being able to hear him, there was no way Leonardo could respond - but even just the illusion that he was having a conversation with someone else was too much for him to resist.

"I was deeply sorry to hear about your death and the death of your father and youngest brother. Anyone with an ounce of sense could see that what happened to you and your family was a gross abuse of power. But I suppose there are always people who are thoughtless, foolish, greedy, and obsessed with power, and this city is certainly no exception," continued Leonardo sadly. Looking down at the diagram drawn on the scroll, he began to carefully disassemble the hidden blade.

Federico watched Leonardo work on the blade with interest. There was something almost soothing about how Leonardo's tools moved quickly and assuredly over the hidden blade, only occasionally pausing for Leonardo to glance at his notes or the scroll. Federico began to understand why his mother and Paola thought so highly of Leonardo - it was obvious the man was extraordinarily intelligent.

When nearly half of the hidden blade was lying in front of Leonardo meticulously broken down into its individual parts, he spoke up again. "I'm by no means a stupid man, Federico, but it wouldn't take a brilliant scholar to figure out why Ezio wants me to fix this weapon for him. He means to get revenge for the death of his family by killing Uberto Alberti." He carefully set the hidden blade down and sighed. "Who am I to deny him his vengeance? I can only hope he's able to use this weapon well."

"So do I," said Federico quietly.

* * *

 _So here's something that happened to me Thursday:_

 _I had to run some documents to a courthouse for my job. Unfortunately, court was in session when I got there, so I had to go through a metal detector and have two guards look through my purse before I could drop them off. After the guards had looked through my purse, one of them asked, "Do you have any knives on you?"_

 _This confused the hell out of me because a. the most dangerous items I had on me were my cell phone and e-reader (which were apparantly so dangerous they weren't even allowed inside the courthouse turned off) and b. that seemed like an oddly specific question to ask. "Um. No?"_

 _It took me until I was in my car halfway back to the office to realize why he'd said that: he'd seen the Assassin's Creed book I had in my purse. Whoops. I'd completely forgotten I'd put that book in my purse that morning - probably not the best reading material to bring to court._

 _I'd be the worst assassin ever._


	11. part eleven

**Afterlife**

 _part eleven_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

The fire Leonardo had stoked in his workshop had begun to smolder and dim by the time Leonardo put the finishing touches on the repaired hidden blade, Federico hovering over his shoulder. He placed a hand on Leonardo's shoulder absently, leaning closer to get a better look at the hidden blade. Ezio still dozed in the corner of the workshop, his shoulders gently rising and falling.

Leonardo started slightly when he felt Federico touch him, and then he chuckled. "You know, usually I find it irritating when someone does that. Ask any of my assistants. But considering I can't see or hear you, it's not so bad. There's a limit to how much of a distraction you can be, at least."

"A distraction? Me? Never." Federico lightly flicked the back of Leonardo's head with his fingers, which made Leonardo shake his head and grin.

Leonardo refastening the silver symbol of the Assassin Brotherhood to the leather and inspected his work, turning the hidden blade around to give it one final examination. "I think that does it."

"It looks fantastic, " said Federico, patting Leonardo on the back. "Nicely done, Leonardo."

Smiling from ear to ear, Leonardo rushed over to where Ezio was sleeping. "Ezio, Ezio, wake up!" Leonardo said, roughly shaking his shoulder.

Ezio's head jerked up, instantly awake, and he glanced around until he saw Leonardo's smiling face. In one hand Leonardo held the repaired hidden blade – all the metal had been polished to a mirror finish, the leather repaired, stitching redone. It was almost unrecognizable from the broken pieces Ezio had given him to work with only a few hours ago.

At that moment, the hidden blade was the most beautiful thing Ezio had ever seen.

"It's finished?" said Ezio.

"It's finished, little brother," said Federico with a wide grin, standing on the other side of Leonardo's workbench. "Leonardo works surprisingly fast when he has something that piques his curiosity."

"All that's left to do is remove your ring finger," said Leonardo, brandishing a very large cleaver with his other hand. He looked a little too excited at the prospect of cutting off body parts.

Federico's grin froze on his face. "What?"

There was a lot that he didn't know about the Assassins - Father had only recently begun to teach him in their ways when they'd both died, after all - but the thought of Leonardo hacking away at Ezio's hand made him feel surprisingly ill.

"Uh. Is that really necessary?" asked Ezio, eyeing the dulled edge of the knife with distrust. Both Auditore brothers could tell it would not be a clean slice.

"According to the parchment, yes it is. The blade was designed to test the commitment of whoever wields it," said Leonardo. His face was deadly serious. "I'm sorry, but this is how it must be done."

Ezio and Federico looked at each other uncertainly. "But Father had all of his fingers, and that weapon was his," said Federico, confused. "I don't understand..."

Leonardo's stern mouth twitched. To Ezio and Federico's shared confusion he suddenly burst out laughing, lowering the cleaver. "You should see the look on your face - I was only having fun, Ezio! Though the blade once required a sacrifice, it's been modified. You can keep your fin- _hey_!"

Federico snatched Leonardo's hat off his head and threw it on top of the tallest bookcase in the workshop.

Both Leonardo and Ezio looked at Federico, Leonardo's gaze following where Ezio was looking.

"What?" said Federico innocently. "I was only having fun."

Instead of being upset, Leonardo laughed as he placed the knife down on his workbench. He smoothed down his blond hair. "I may've deserved that," he said pleasantly.

"My brother didn't disturb you too much while you were working, did he?" asked Ezio.

"Oh, not at all," said Leonardo cheerfully. "Hopefully I wasn't tedious company to you, Federico, having to listen to me muttering to myself while I worked." To Ezio, he said, "Go ahead, put it on. I'd like to see it in action. There may be a few slight adjustments I need to make."

Ezio strapped the leather bracer to his arm. He flexed his wrist, and a shining foot-long blade glided smoothly out of the mechanism with barely a sound. He flexed his wrist again, and the blade quickly slid back down. He tried to flex faster, the blade springing out and then retracting in a flash of silver. "This is amazing, Leonardo."

"It is, now that it's working properly," Leonardo agreed. "Thank you for bringing this to me, Ezio – this weapon is truly a work of art."

"What do you want to do about the ...uh..." Ezio gestured vaguely towards the three dead bodies lying spawled near the entrance to Leonardo's workshop. "Those?"

"They're going to attract attention sooner or later. Probably when they start to smell," said Federico.

"Oh, you can put them with the others," said Leonardo nonchalantly.

"'...'Others'?" Ezio echoed after a moment, catching his brother's eye. Federico silently blanched.

Leonardo nodded enthusiastically, not seeming to notice Ezio's trepidation. "Oh yes, the city gives them to me for research. The anatomy of the human body is quite fascinating, both inside and out."

Grimacing slightly, Ezio dragged the first dead guard across the floor to a darkened corner of Leonardo's workshop, out of sight of any visitors.

Federico grabbed the ankle of one guard, dragging him a few feet across the floor before he lost his grip, the guard's leg falling through his hand. Cursing, he grabbed both legs and pulled the body another few feet before the body's legs slipped out of his hands again.

"That is the strangest thing I've ever seen," said Leonardo, watching the guard's dead body slide in fits and starts across the floor of his workshop.

Ezio carried the last body over to the corner, just as Federico had shoved his guard next to the first body. Federico noticed the guard's sword still lying on the floor from where he'd dropped it during their fight. "Ezio, you don't have Father's sword anymore. You could take his."

Picking up the sword, Ezio ran through a few quick practice stances. "It's a nicely made sword. Good balance. It'll do for now." He slid the sword into the holder on his belt where Father's sword had gone before it'd been lost.

"Do you have any more pages like this one?" asked Leonardo, handing Ezio back the scroll. "I would love to study them if you do." He sounded positively gleeful at the prospect of looking at more of the pages.

"No, that was the only one in Father's possession," said Federico. "More pages do exist, but they're scattered all over."

Leonardo's face fell when Ezio repeated what Federico had said. "A pity – the things contained on just this one sheet of parchment alone are astonishing! But if you do happen to come across more pages, you will bring them to me to look at, won't you?" He gave Ezio a pleading look that reminded Federico of a small puppy wistfully begging for food at the supper-table.

"Of course I will," Ezio agreed eagerly.

Smiling, Leonardo held out his arms, and Ezio hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Leonardo. For everything you've done," said Ezio when they pulled apart, placing his hands on top of Leonardo's arms. "You are a true friend."

"It's nothing really," said Leonardo, his cheeks turning slightly red. "And where is your brother?"

Before Ezio could answer, Federico nudged at Leonardo's metalworking tools still spread out across his workbench, two of them gently clinking together.

Leonardo glanced down at the tools, and then at Federico. "There you are!" Leonardo was getting better at estimating where Federico's eyes were, probably from watching where Ezio was looking - if Federico didn't know any better, it was almost like Leonardo could actually see him. "Thank you, Federico." He opened his arms out towards him.

Taking a moment to make himself feel solid, Federico hugged him back. Like Claudia, Leonardo felt less firm to him than Ezio did, but he was more than solid enough for him to return the tight hug without worrying about passing through Leonardo like he had earlier.

Leonardo gave a small laugh, patting Federico's back. "I appreciate what you've done for me, Federico. Perhaps you'll visit again," he said.

"We really should be getting back," said Ezio, glancing at the windows. The sky was darker than he'd expected, the sun sinking down. "Out the window?" he said to Federico. Being caught going out of Leonardo's workshop would only get Leonardo pulled further into the conspiracy against the Auditores, and it appeared that his reputation had already taken a hit from his association with their family.

"Out the window," agreed Federico. Ezio quickly climbed back up the bookcase underneath the windows. Federico followed, pausing to toss Leonardo back his hat.

"Ah, _grazie_ ," said Leonardo, shaking out his hat before placing back on top of his head. "Give Paola my regards!" he called up to Ezio and Federico as they clambered out one of the windows and out into the courtyard.

* * *

 _Sorry for the delay in getting this out - this past week's been crazy! And next week is going to be just as busy, so there may be a delay with the next chapter too. Hopefully I can find more free time to work on it than last._


	12. part twelve

**Afterlife**

 _part twelve_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

Ezio quickly climbed up to the roof of Leonardo's workshop, pausing for a moment to orient himself and survey the area. From the position of the sun in the cloudless purple sky, it was late afternoon – less than an hour left before nightfall. There were fewer archers posted along the roofs. Most of the city guards appeared to be on the ground, and there seemed to be fewer out on patrol.

Ezio practiced releasing and retracting the hidden blade again, admiring Leonardo's work. It was a strange weapon, and not one he'd ever seen before. But at the same time having it strapped to his arm felt natural to him. It was meant to be there.

Federico appeared a moment later, climbing up the side of the building. Kneeling on the shingles, Ezio reached down and helped pull him up onto the roof.

" _Grazie_ , Ezio," said Federico. He looked around the area himself, and then frowned slightly. "A lot less guards around."

"That should make for a quick trip back to the brothel, yes?"

Federico gave him an almost pitying look.

"...Erm, no?" said Ezio, uncertainly. "Why?"

"It doesn't seem like Alberti to give up on you so easily," said Federico. "If anything, I'd think he'd have more guards out patrolling the longer it took to find you. He has to know you want revenge for what he's done. Something about this doesn't make sense."

Ezio peered down into the street below, activating his second sight.

He easily spotted the red glow of the guards moving through the crowd, but something else caught his eye. Rectangular patches dotting the walls of buildings along the street were glowing, but the world through his second sight was too blurry and washed out for him to make out what they were clearly.

He switched back to his normal vision and squinted. Stuck to the side of one building by an arrow was a poster bearing his face below the Pazzi family crest, offering a reward of 50,000 florins for his capture, dead or alive. Looking closer, he spotted many identical posters plastered across the streets. One near an apothecary's cart had a small crowd of at least twenty people surrounding it, loudly discussing what they'd do with the reward money.

Ezio's heart sank. The reward had been 10,000 florins this morning – still more money than most people in the city earned in a year. 50,000 florins was an almost ludicrously huge amount of money, enough to last the rest of someone's life. With a bounty that high, his face would be the most known in Firenze, and severely curtail his ability to blend in with crowds like Paola had taught him.

Now, he not only had to contend with staying one step in front of the city guards, but anyone who'd be after his head for the 50,000 florin prize on it.

With a sigh, Ezio pointed towards the closest poster. "Federico, look."

Federico quickly read the poster and let out a loud string of curses. "So the guards got around to putting posters up while we were at Leonardo's workshop," he said.

"It seems that way. What should we do?"

Federico thought a moment. "Stay out of sight of the guards for a few minutes, little brother. I'll see what I can do about those posters."

He dove off the roof, adopting the pose his father had shown him and Ezio for jumping off of buildings – what he'd called a leap of faith – although there was nothing to cushion his fall beneath him. For several moments he felt weightless, almost like he was flying. Federico felt a rush of almost giddy exhilaration as gravity returned and he was pulled down, the ground rushing up to meet him. While he was in mid-air, he rotated his body so that he was falling feet-first. With a grunt, he landed on the flagstones with a sudden jolt that probably would've shattered one of his legs if he'd still been alive. As a ghost it didn't exactly hurt, but he stumbled forward a few steps, shaking off the pins and needles sensation in his legs.

Weaving between the crowd of people in the street, Federico approached the nearest poster with his brother's face printed on it. He tore the parchment away from the arrow pinning it to the wall, letting the wind carry it tumbling down the street.

If the posters had only been up for a few hours, perhaps taking them down would keep word from spreading about the reward – and it would be much easier for Ezio to move among a crowd unnoticed if he wasn't passing by posters with his own face advertising the 50,000 florins for his arrest or death.

'One poster down, several dozen more to go,' he thought with a sigh. The patrolling guards had plastered the posters across almost every building, even in spots that most people wouldn't be able to see from the ground.

He quickly worked his way down the street, pulling down posters when nobody was looking, until he reached the crowd gathered around the last poster next to the apothecary's wheeled cart. Although he couldn't see the apothecary's face through the bird-like mask he wore, he seemed to be trying to ignore the crowd, who were obviously more interested in the reward for Ezio than anything the he had to sell.

Federico watched the group for a moment, trying to figure out a way to distract them long enough for him to tear the poster down without drawing too much attention.

"They're offering that much for the son of Giovanni Auditore?" one young man, the son of a noble if his extravagant clothing was any indication, was loudly boasting to the others. "They can keep the reward money - I can catch him in no time at all! I'll cut off his traitorous head and parade it through the city!"

Rolling his eyes, Federico drove his elbow into the man's side. He was rewarded with the man letting out a surprised shriek and stumbling back into the apothecary's wheeled cart, nearly toppling it over.

Federico had his distraction.

Scattered laughter ran through the assembled crowd. His cheeks red with embarrassment, the man looked around to locate whoever had struck him, curling both of his large hands into fists.

"Be careful," the apothecary snapped irritably, righting some of the glass bottles and jars that the man had knocked over. "Don't you have any sense at all, child?"

As the man shrilly insisted, to the amusement of the crowd, that he wasn't to blame, someone had shoved him, Federico saw his chance.

" _Mi dispiace, il mio amico_ ," he said to the apothecary, wedging himself into the small space between the cart and the wall. He quickly ripped the poster down, letting it drift to the flagstones. No one in the crowd appeared to notice.

Satisfied, Federico climbed back up to the roof where he'd left Ezio, only to find him no longer there. "Ezio?" he called.

His brother didn't answer.

Confused, he glanced around at the surrounding buildings. The archers were still patrolling the rooftops nearby, and the guards in the streets weren't chasing anyone wearing Father's robes. Nobody was screaming 'Auditore!' at the top of their lungs. There would've been more of a commotion if Ezio had been caught.

But if he hadn't been captured, where was he?

Federico ran from rooftop to rooftop, combing the area for his brother. Everywhere he looked, there was no sign of Ezio.

What had happened to his brother?

* * *

 _After seeing the trailer, I'm really hyped for the Assassin's Creed movie. Man, December seems so far away..._


	13. part thirteen

**Afterlife**

 _part thirteen_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

 _From the rooftop, watching Federico tear down the posters, Ezio had heard a child crying. Careful to avoid exposing himself to the archers, he moved around the roof's chimney, peering into the maze of streets and deserted alleyways below._

 _He spotted the child in the corner of an empty side-street, half-hidden by shadow. He was sitting with his legs pulled up to his chest, his face buried against his bony knees. All that was visible of his head was his dark-brown hair._

 _Ezio felt a pang of sympathy. He was already moving for the edge of the rooftop before he was aware what he was doing._ _He carefully climbed down the building, jumping from ledge to ledge until he had reached the street._

 _Looking up suddenly as Ezio approached him, the boy tried to scramble backwards, but his back hit the wall behind him._

 _"Don't be afraid," said Ezio. He pulled his hood down, away from his face. Crouching down, he tried to give the boy a reassuring smile. "Tell me, little one, why are you crying? Did you lose track of your parents?"_

 _The boy shook his head, tears still running down his cheeks. "No, my_ mamma _and_ papà _are dead."_

 _"_ Mi dispiace _," said Ezio, slipping one hand into his purse. "Do you need - "_

 _There was a noise behind him, and the last thing Ezio remembered before blacking out was an explosion of pain in the back of his skull._

* * *

Ezio woke up with a groan and tried to raise a hand to his throbbing head. It was only when he couldn't that he realized his hands were bound behind his back with rope.

' _Idiota_ ,' Ezio thought bitterly. He'd been careful to keep an eye out for guards; he'd never thought he'd be in any danger from a little boy.

"I think our criminal is waking up, Ilario," said a young voice excitedly, too loud and too close for Ezio's throbbing head to take. He flinched away.

He was lying on his side in a small abandoned cellar, candle stubs spread all over the cellar providing a meager amount of light. Two boys dressed in tattered clothing, the one he'd found in the alley and an older boy not even Petruccio's age, crowded around him, looking at him like he was an extravagant meal. Ezio could see his belt of throwing daggers and the sword he'd taken from the guard to replace the one he'd lost lying on the ground behind the boys – next to one of the posters advertising the reward for his capture, dead or alive.

It didn't take a genius of Leonardo's caliber to figure out what they planned to do with him.

Ezio felt for his hidden blade, and was relieved to still feel the bracer and the weight of the mechanism against his arm. The boys hadn't realized it was as dangerous a weapon as the others they'd taken from him. They'd managed to tie his hands so that releasing the hidden blade wouldn't cause him to stab himself, but he still very carefully flexed his wrist, hearing the whisper-quiet sound of the blade sliding out. He twisted his hand to begin sawing at the ropes, suppressing a wince as the ropes rubbed his skin raw.

"What is this?" Ezio said, purposefully slurring his words to mask how aware and alert he truly was. Better to be underestimated, even if his captors were only children. "Who are you?"

"Ilario!" said the younger of the boys to the other. "Should we hit him again?" He held out a large rock to the older boy, and Ezio had the sickening feeling it was the same 'weapon' that had knocked him out in the first place.

"No," said Ezio firmly as he slowly sat up. The tiny dust-covered cellar swam in and out of focus for a moment. The boys hadn't bothered to bind his legs, but were smartly out of kicking range.

"Why not?" said the older boy, Ilario, sullenly. "You're our prisoner, after all."

"Because if you hit my head again like that, you'll kill me," Ezio said bluntly, still carefully cutting at the ropes. "And it's much easier to make a living man walk than for two young boys to drag a body all over Firenze." He paused. "Again."

Ilario scowled, unconsciously rolling one of his shoulders.

The ropes around Ezio's wrists went slack, softly falling to the ground behind him. Ezio retracted the hidden blade, but kept his hands in the same position, as if they were still bound.

"You want the reward for me, is that right?" said Ezio after a moment of silence.

The younger boy nodded enthusiastically.

"Did someone put you up to this?" asked Ezio. He eyed their clothing – in poor condition now, but made from expensive fabric once. And while they were both dirty, they didn't have the hollow look of years and years of constant starvation about them. Either someone was looking after them or they hadn't been on the streets for very long.

"No, we did it ourselves!" said the younger boy, oddly proud. "Usually my brother just picks the purse of whoever we can lure into the alley, but we recognized your face right away, Ezio Auditore. You're worth a lot more than the twelve florins in your purse!"

"Alessandro," Ilario said warningly, elbowing his younger brother in the side. "Shut up."

 _"Ezio! Brother, where are you?"_

Ezio glanced up as he heard Federico's voice call out his name from the roof of the cellar. "In here!" he shouted.

Ilario scowled. "There's no one around to hear you, Auditore. Not even the guards come around this place."

"Ezio! _Grazie a Dio_!" Federico jumped down, passing through the ceiling of the cellar, and landed between the two boys and Ezio. He looked around the cellar at the two boys, the large rock in Alessandro's hands, and Ezio stripped of his weapons.

Ezio gave him a sheepish smile.

"Why is it always rocks with you, Ezio?" Shaking his head, Federico plucked the rock from the boy's grip and tossed it to Ezio, who caught it with his unbound hands.

Alessandro shrieked as the rock left his hands, attaching himself to his older brother's arm.

Ilario grabbed Ezio's sword and held it out in front of him and Alessandro, the blade quivering in his hand. From the way he was gripping it, it was doubtful he had any idea how to use a sword. "Why did you throw the rock at him?" he asked his brother tersely, keeping his eyes on Ezio.

There were tears in Alessandro's eyes. "I didn't!" he protested. "Something took it from me!"

"Honestly. I leave you alone for ten minutes and you get yourself abducted by children," said Federico teasingly. He clapped one of his hands down on the sword's blade, forcing it down and away from Ezio. Ilario struggled for a moment to try and raise the sword, but he was no match for Federico's strength. The sword stayed down.

"It wasn't on purpose, brother," Ezio said to Federico, dropping the rock. He stood up, towering over the two small boys.

"Who are you talking to? How'd you get out of the ropes?" said Ilario, struggling to keep his voice even. He had the look of someone badly out of their depth. Alessandro was just staring at Ezio with wide eyes and quietly making a hight-pitched noise behind his older brother that sounded like 'eeeeee'.

"You know what happened to the rest of the Auditore family, yes?" said Ezio. Ignoring the sword that Ilario was still trying to jab towards him, Ezio grabbed his belt and carefully rebuckled it around his waist, making sure that all of the throwing knives were still in their proper places. "The heralds have been shouting what happened to them all over the city for days."

"Your father and brothers were hung for treason," said Ilario, struggling to wrestle control of the sword back from Federico. Federico suddenly released it, and Ilario stumbled back. "But you said 'brother' before – both of your brothers are dead!"

Federico took hold of Ilario's wrist – not twisting it, just clutching it - but it was enough to make Ilario let go of Ezio's sword. Releasing Ilario, Federico caught the sword before it could hit the ground, and then held the hilt out towards his brother.

Staring up at the floating sword, Ilario and Alessandro backed away from it until they reached the wall of the hovel. Ilario thrust his arm out to keep his younger brother behind him.

"That's true. My father and both my brothers were hanged." Ezio took the sword from Federico and checked the edge on it. Finding no damage, he hung it from the loop on the belt. "They died branded traitors to _la Repubblica di Firenze_ when there was no one more loyal to Firenze than my father."

"Why are you telling us this? How did you make that sword do that?" said Ilario, pointing a shaking finger accusingly at Ezio. Alessandro quivered behind him, only a few moments away from tears. "Are you a heretic?"

Ezio sighed, shaking his head, and knelt down in front of the two boys. Despite the goose-egg bump on the back of his head from Ilario, he found himself wanting to help the two boys. They reminded him of himself and his brothers, in a way. "If you'd handed me to the guards and asked for the 50,000 florin reward, what do you think would've happened?" Ezio said gently.

"They...would've given us the money?" squeaked Alessandro uncertainly.

"Two little orphan boys find and capture a man the entire Florentine Guard hadn't been able to take down in days," said Ezio. He shook his head slowly. "It would've been a public disgrace to the Guard, made them the laughingstock of the city that they were bested by two children. No. Easier to charge you with pick-pocketing, throw you into the _Palazzo della Signoria_ with me, like they did my father and brothers, and keep the reward money."

Ilario and Alessandro both turned pale. "But that's not fair!" said Alessandro. "They promised a reward!"

"People make promises they have no intention of keeping all the time," said Federico. "Unfortunately."

In his mind's eye, Ezio replayed the moment he'd handed over the documents that could've saved the lives of his father and brothers to Alberti. He'd felt a sliver of doubt at the time, but it had been drowned out by his own confusion and fear, and the soothing reassurances of Alberti that he would make things right. If only Ezio'd listened to that doubt, perhaps things would've been different. He glanced over to the transparent ghost of his older brother.

The two boys were clever, but they were still just children. If they stayed on the streets, it was only a matter of time before they were caught stealing or pick-pocketing by the guards, who had no issues with sending beggar children to their deaths.

"They did promise a reward," Ezio told the two boys. "And you did capture me, after all. You should get something."

"Ezio? What are you thinking, exactly?" said Federico.

"Come with me," said Ezio. He held out a hand towards them. "I have a friend I'd like for you to meet."

Ilario and Alessandro stared at him. For a moment, none of them moved.

"Ten minutes ago, we had you tied up and ready to turn over to the guards," said Ilario quietly, his face closed off. Suspicious. "Why would you want to help us?"

"I cannot change what has already happened to my family, to my brothers," said Ezio. "But perhaps I can try to prevent something equally as bad from befalling you two."

* * *

 _Part of the reason this chapter took longer than usual was because I originally had someone else abduct Ezio instead of Ilario and Alessandro, but I wasn't really happy with it._ _I also had a different, slightly more cliffhanger-y, ending point in mind for this chapter, but it was getting too long. Next time!_

 _I was asked why I was looking forward to the Assassin's Creed movie coming out in December. Mainly, I'm excited because: 1. The director and cast have an excellent track record, 2. The costumes and set design for the Spanish Inquisition look fantastic, and 3. I am very bad at actually playing video games (I lost count how many times I crashed Leonardo's wagon and the flying machine in ACII). This doesn't mean that the AC movie will be good, of course, but I am cautiously optimistic. c:_


	14. part fourteen

**Afterlife**

 _part fourteen_

by Go-Go Spiders

* * *

After extinguishing and collecting the candles, Ilario and Alessandro led Ezio and Federico out of the cellar and into the abandoned building they'd been using as a hideout.

It has been a beautiful home years ago, but cobwebs hung from the ceiling. The walls had been stripped of their fine curtains, oil paintings torn from walls, furniture either conspicuously missing or overturned and broken. Planks of wood covered the windows and the doors.

Federico glanced out through the thin gaps between the slats of wood over a window. The sun had almost set, leaving behind a quickly-fading strip of pale orange in the sky. Most businesses nearby had already closed for the night. There were only a few stragglers on the street packing up their goods or locking up their shops.

The guards were still patrolling the streets, and Federico could see archers circling around on the rooftops. It seemed there were more guards the closer one was to the Palazzo Auditore. Perhaps it was not just because Alberti thought Ezio would try to return home again, but to keep thieves from slipping inside the Palazzo and stripping the walls and coffers bare before his men had a chance to remove the money and other valuables from inside. He tried to not think about the empty Palazzo Auditore slowly sinking into disrepair with no one to look after it, until it resembled Ilario and Alessandro's hiding place – abandoned and decrepit, falling apart and just waiting to be torn down.

 _'Think of something else,'_ thought Federico. _'Like making sure Ezio isn't caught by the guards.'_

Federico knew from years of outrunning guards that sundown was when the night guards started their shifts. There was usually a brief period between the shifts when the day guards had left for their homes but the nighttime guards hadn't yet reached their posts. That would give Ezio and the two boys a narrow window of opportunity for them to walk the streets without having to worry about being seen and captured. Unfortunately, Ezio would have to keep to the ground as long as he had the two boys with him. Taking to the rooftops was out of the question - without lengthy training, Ilario and Alessandro wouldn't be able to follow Ezio from roof to roof, and he couldn't carry both children.

A few moments later, Federico saw the first rooftop archer leave his post, sliding the arrow off the bow and into the quiver on his back.

Ezio joined him at the window a moment later. "They're starting to change shifts," Ezio said, squinting through the cracks. He raised his hood over his face.

Federico nodded. He glanced back at the empty room. "Where are the boys?"

"Gathering up their belongings," said Ezio. "Although they said they didn't have much."

"I'd be surprised if they did," said Federico. "Considering their situation."

The two brothers peered out between the slats covering the window for a moment in silence before Federico spoke up again.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do after you've killed Alberti? You won't be able to stay in Firenze after that." If the patrol of the city guard was oppressive now, the murder of Firenze's _gonfaloniere_ would throw it into absolute chaos. With Ezio as the most wanted man in the city, he would (rightly) be accused of the murder, cementing his status as a dangerous criminal in the public's eyes.

"There's Uncle Mario's villa near Monteriggioni," Ezio suggested after a moment. " We could take Mother and Claudia there."

"That's not a bad idea," said Federico. Uncle Mario would be able to keep them safe. Monteriggioni was far enough away that if word of the surviving Auditores living there came back to Firenze, whoever replaced Alberti as _gonfaloniere_ wouldn't be able to easily retaliate against them. Although with the backstabbing politics of Firenze being what they were, perhaps the new _gonfaloniere_ would send Ezio a bottle of wine to show his appreciation instead.

Footsteps thundered down the stairs. Ilario held a battered wooden chest under one arm, and Alessandro carried a small canvas satchel.

"Is that everything?" Ezio asked the boys.

Ilario nodded.

"Were you really talking to your dead brother again?" said Alessandro. Next to him, Ilario let out a short frustrated sigh and closed his eyes, like he'd specifically told his brother not to bring up that Ezio kept having conversations with someone who they only half-believed was there, even after Federico had taken away their weapons.

Ezio and Federico looked at each other. "Yes," said Ezio.

"Oh," said Alessandro. He caught his brother's eye, and then quickly looked down at his feet.

"We will have to be careful once we leave here," Ezio told the two children. "If I tell you two to run, you should run."

Alessandro nodded, his eyes huge. Ilario still looked vaguely distrustful, but kept silent.

The door was half off its hinges, and nearly fell over when Ezio gave it a small tug. Wooden boards were nailed haphazardly over the door's frame, but there was a gap near the bottom just wide enough for a child to wiggle through. It was much too small for Ezio.

Ezio sighed and gave the bottom boards a good kick, breaking them off and widening the gap so that it was just barely big enough for him. Federico passed through the wall as Ezio crawled through the gap. The two children followed Ezio out a moment later.

The streets and the rooftops nearby were entirely deserted, not a guard in sight. Federico let out a relieved sigh, but still kept an eye open. He was not surprised when Ezio lead the two boys in the direction of Leonardo's workshop.

Federico hoped Ezio knew what he was doing. He looked down at the two children in front of him. Ilario was holding his younger brother's hand tightly, keeping his eyes on Ezio's back. There was only a thin sense of trust there - Ilario looked ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.

' _Smart child_ ,' thought Federico.

Leonardo was standing outside his workshop's door talking to someone, a boy only a few years younger than Ezio in a hooded traveling cloak, apparently locking up his shop for the night before he left for Vinci. Leonardo smiled when he spotted Ezio and the two boys following behind him. "Ah! Ezio! Federico! Good to see you again!" He gestured towards the boy he had been speaking to. "We were just talking about you."

Ezio and Federico glanced at each other. It didn't seem like Leonardo to gossip about him with a stranger. "You were?" said Ezio warily. "Why?"

The boy pulled down the hood of his traveling cloak, and revealed himself to not be a boy at all.

" _Mio Dio,_ " said Federico. "Claudia?"

"Becuase, Ezio, I was trying to figure out where you'd gone, and why you hadn't come back to Paola's brothel," said Claudia, putting her hands on her hips. "Her informants said you hadn't been caught by the guards, but when the sun began to set and you still weren't back from Leonardo's I began to worry..."

Ezio stared at his younger sister for a moment. Instead of the fine dress he'd last seen her in, she was clothed in a boy's tunic and riding boots underneath the cloak. But the boy's clothes weren't the most obvious change. "Claudia, what happened to your hair..."

His sister's fingers reached for where a few hours ago there had been long hair wrapped in a snood. Her dark hair had been chopped off into a short, boyish look. "Paola wouldn't let me go out to look for you without a disguise," she said haltingly. "This was the best one I could think of. It looks horrible, I know."

"Paola let you go out on the streets of Firenze alone?" said Ezio. "Unarmed?"

Claudia jerked a thumb to a trio of Paola's courtesans standing at the corner of the street, and a cluster of thieves lurking in an alley nearby. One thief waved at Ezio. "Not completely alone," Claudia said. She pulled a thin knife partially out of a sheath at her belt, allowing Ezio to see the sharp blade before letting it slide back down. "And not completely unarmed."

Ezio's jaw dropped as he stared at the knife.

Federico laughed. "That is amazing! Ezio, her disguise is almost perfect. She looks just like a messenger boy."

"I was telling her that you left my workshop more than an hour ago when you showed up," said Leonardo, snapping Ezio out of his stupor. Leonardo's glance fell upon the two boys standing behind Ezio. "Are those the reasons for the delay?"

"Partially," said Ezio, shifting slightly on his feet while Federico snickered behind him. "Leonardo, Claudia, this is Alessandro and Ilario."

Alessandro glanced up at Leonardo and Claudia, the picture of innocence. Ilario glared at the two of them sullenly, clutching his wooden box to his chest protectively.

" _Buona sera_ ," said Leonardo to the two children with a smile. The two boys remained silent.

"I was hoping you might be able to help these two, Leonardo," said Ezio.

"Of course, my friend," said Leonardo graciously. "What do they need?"

"Take them back with you to Vinci tonight," said Ezio. "Give them a meal, find them a place to stay. The streets of Firenze isn't safe for them."

"I can certainly do that. I was just on my way to the stables when Claudia found me," said Leonardo. "Come, walk with me and we will discuss this."

* * *

 _Turns out organizing and putting on a yard sale is really time-consuming. I've been working on this chapter on and off during my free time since the last one went up, but only finished it today. But the yard sale went really well! I made a surprising amount of money selling off my old books and clothes. c:_


End file.
